1. How and why does pressure vary within the atmosphere?
2. How and why does the height of the atmosphere vary by season?
3. How and why does the height of the atmosphere vary by latitude?
4. What is residence time and how do we determine the residence time?
5. How does residence time define the difference between permanent and variable gases?
6. What is the function of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and ozone in the atmosphere?
7. What are aerosols and what is their function in the atmosphere?
8. Why are certain materials considered pollutants?
9. How and why do we divide the atmosphere into layers using composition?
10. What are the characteristics of the atmospheric layers determined by composition?
11. How and why do we divide the atmosphere into layers using function?
12. What are the characteristics of the atmospheric layers determined by function?
13. How and why do we divide the atmosphere into layers using temperature?
14. What are the characteristics of the atmospheric layers determined by temperature?
15. What is the environmental lapse rate and what does it indicate?

ENERGY, EARTH-SUN RELATIONSHIPS AND SEASONS

1. How and why do tilt and axial parallelism affect the seasons?
2. What are declination, the subsolar point, and the subsolar parallel and how do they change throughout the year?
3. What is day length (also called period of daylight or duration) and how does it relate to changes in the season?
4. What is the altitude angle (also know as sun angle) and how does it relate to beam spreading (the amount of energy per unit area)?
5. How is the altitude angle (sun angle) and zenith angle related to latitude and declination?
6. How and why do seasons differ in the northern and southern hemispheres?
7. How and why do sun angle and daylength vary by latitude?
8. How and why do sun angle and daylength vary by season?
9. What are the solstices and why do they happen?
10. When are the equinoxes and why do they happen?
11. What are the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and how are they important to seasons?
12. What are the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and how are they important to seasons?
13. What is the circle of illumination and how does it affect the seasons?
14. How and why does the location of the sun at dawn and dusk vary?

EARTH'S ENERGY BALANCE

1. What wavelengths of radiant energy do the sun, the Earth's surface and the atmosphere emit?
2. How does temperature affect total energy emitted and wavelength?
3. How does insolation vary by day, by season and by latitude?
4. What components of the atmosphere cause refraction, reflection and absorption of insolation and why?
5. What happens to insolation (in terms of absorption and reflection) as it contacts the earth's surface and why?
6. What factors affect absorption and reflection (albedo) on the surface and why?
7. What factors affect absorption and reflection (albedo) in the atmosphere and why?
8. How and why does absorption and reflection vary by day, by season and by latitude?
9. What kinds of energy are transmitted from the atmosphere to the earth's surface and space and how?
10. What kinds of energy are transmitted from the earth's surface to the atmosphere and space and how?
11. What is the global energy balance (Review the diagram)?
12. What is net radiation?
13. What factors affect net radiation?
14. How does net radiation vary by day, by season and by latitude?
15. How does advection affect storage and movement of energy on the earth?

1. How and why does net radiation affect temperature?
2. What is the definition of daily maximum, daily minimum, daily range, mean daily, mean monthly and mean annual temperature?
3. How and why does temperature vary during the average day?
4. How and why does temperature vary during the average year?
5. How and why does latitude affect temperature?
6. How and why do altitude and elevation affect temperature?
7. How and why does cloud cover affect temperature at night and during the day?
8. In terms of the difference between land and water, how and why does evaporation affect temperature?
9. In terms of the difference between land and water, how and why does transparency affect temperature?
10. In terms of the difference between land and water, how and why does specific heat affect temperature?
11. In terms of the difference between land and water, how and why does vertical mixing affect temperature?
12. What is the overall difference in temperature between areas inland and those on the coast because of these four differences between land and water?
13. How and why do ocean currents temperature?
14. How and why does temperature vary between slopes?
15. How and why does vegetation affect temperature?
16. How and why do air masses affect temperature?
17. How and why do urban areas affect temperature?

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1. What is the average distribution of high and low air pressure belts across the world?
2. Why does these belts of high and low pressure occur?
3. What is the average distribution of prevailing surface winds over the surface of the earth?
4. What causes these prevailing surface winds?
5. What are Hadley cells and why do they occur?
6. How and why does the difference in heating of land and water affect the seasonal location of high and low pressure cells?
7. What is the average direction of the horizontal pressure gradient force in the upper atmosphere?
8. What are the upper air Westerlies and why do they occur?
9. What is the relationship between the 500mb map and the upper atmosphere?
10. What are ridges and troughs, why do they occur and how are they related to the Westerlies?
11. What are Rossby waves, why do they occur and how are they related to ridges and troughs?
12. What is the polar jet stream, why does it occur, and how are they related to Rossby waves?
13. How and why do temperature and topography cause the five types of local winds?
14. What are monsoons and why do they occur?
15. What are downslope warm winds and why do they occur?
16. What are downslope cold winds and why do they occur?
17. What are mountain and valley winds and why do they occur?
18. What are land and sea breezes why do they occur?
19. Where and why do major warm and cold currents occur?

1. What are the major components of the hydrologic cycle and how does water move through the cycle?
2. What is the relationship between saturation, evaporation, and condensation?
3. How does temperature affect saturation?
4. What are specific humidity and maximum specific humidity?
5. How and why does evaporation and condensation affect specific humidity?
6. How and why does temperature affect maximum specific humidity?
7. What is relative humidity?
8. How and why does temperature affect relative humidity?
9. What is dewpoint?
10. How and why do changes in evaporation and condensation affect dewpoint?
11. How and why do specific humidity and relative humidity vary during an average day?
12. How and why do specific humidity and relative humidity vary during an average year?
13. How and why do specific humidity and relative humidity vary by latitude?
14. How do you cause saturation by adding water vapor?
15. How do you cause saturation by mixing cold air with warm, moist air?
16. What is diabatic heating and cooling?
17. What is adiabatic heating and cooling?

1. How does volume, pressure, temperature, specific humidity and relative humidity change in saturated rising air?
2. How does volume, pressure, temperature, specific humidity and relative humidity change in unsaturated rising air?
3. How does volume, pressure, temperature, specific humidity and relative humidity change in saturated descending air?
4. How does volume, pressure, temperature, specific humidity and relative humidity change in unsaturated descending air?
5. What is the difference between the dry and wet adiabatic rates and how does it relate to air temperature?
6. When, how and why does rising air experience temperature changes at the dry adiabatic rate?
7. When, how and why does descending air experience temperature changes at the dry adiabatic rate?
8. When, how and why does rising air experience temperature changes at the moist (wet) adiabatic rate?
9. When, how and why does descending air experience temperature changes at the moist (wet) adiabatic rate?

1. How and why does convergent lifting of air affect volume, pressure, density, temperature, and relative humidity?
2. How and why does diabatic heating lead to convection and the adiabatic cooling of rising air?
3. How and why does convective lifting of air affect volume, pressure, density, temperature, and relative humidity?
4. How and why does orographic lifting of air affect volume, pressure, density, temperature, and relative humidity?
5. How and why does orographic lifting lead to the rain shadow effect on the leeward side of the mountain?
6. What is the basic cause of cold fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts, occluded fronts, and drylines?
7. What is the basic structure of cold fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts, occluded fronts, and drylines?
8. How and why does frontal lifting of air affect volume, pressure, density, temperature, and relative humidity?
9. How and why do convergence, convection, orographic, and frontal lifting produce clouds and rainfall?
10. Under what conditions would a parcel of air be buoyant?
11. How and why do we classify absolute instability, conditional instability and absolute stability using environmental lapse rate, the dry adiabatic rate, and the moist (saturation) adiabatic lapse rates?
12. Under what conditions would a parcel of air rise or stop rising under absolute stable conditions?
13. Under what conditions would a parcel of air rise or stop rising under conditionally unstable conditions?
14. Under what conditions would a parcel of air rise or stop rising under absolutely unstable conditions?
15. How and why do changes in the environmental lapse rate change stability?
16. How and why does heating or cooling of the lower atmosphere affect the environmental lapse rate?
17. How and why does the advection of a new air mass affect the environmental lapse rate?
18. What is entrainment and how and why does it affect rising air?
19. What are inversions and how and why do they affect rising air?
20. How is a radiation inversion created?
21. How is a frontal inversion created?
22. How is a subsidence inversion created?
23. How is a stratospheric inversion created?

1. What is an air mass and why do they form?
2. How do we use latitude and type of surface to classify air masses?
3. How does latitudinal position determine the relative temperature of an air mass?
4. How does forming over land or water determine the specific humidity of an air mass?
5. What are the 7 major air mass types, where do they form and how do they differ?
6. How and why do air masses change as they move?
7. What is the lake effect and how does it depend upon changes in an air mass?
8. What air masses affect the US during summer and what are their characteristics?
9. What air masses affect the US during winter and what are their characteristics?

1. What are the major types of cyclones and anticyclones?
2. Where and why does a midlatitude wave cyclone form?
3. What are the 5 stages in the life cycle of a midlatitude cyclone and what is the horizontal and vertical structure of the cyclone in each stage?
4. How and why does air mass, wind direction, pressure, temperature, humidity, clouds and precipitation change as a cyclone passes through an area?
5. What kind of air mass and air mass properties do cold fronts bring?
6. How do cold fronts cause lift and how does lifting affect  volume, pressure, temperature, humidity and weather in an air mass?
7. How do warm fronts cause lift and how does lifting affect  volume, pressure, temperature, humidity and weather in an air mass?
8. What kind of air mass and air mass properties do warm fronts bring?
9. How do occluded fronts cause lift and how does lifting affect  volume, pressure, temperature, humidity and weather in an air mass?
10. What kind of air mass and air mass properties do occluded fronts bring?
11. How do the paths and the general characteristics of wave cyclone differ from summer to winter?
12. How does the conveyor belt model explain movement of surface air into the cyclone and from there into the upper atmosphere?

1. Under what conditions are thunderstorms most likely to form?

2. Where do thunderstorms tend to occur in the US and why?

3. What are the 3 stages in an air mass thunderstorm life cycle and what is the structure of the storm at each stage?

4. What are multicell thunderstorms, how do they form and how is that different from an air mass thunderstorm?

5. What are frontal thunderstorms, how do they form and how is that different from an air mass thunderstorm?

6. What are squall line thunderstorms, how do they form and how is that different from an air mass thunderstorm?

7. What are mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs) and how are they different from air mass thunderstorms?

8. What is a supercell and why does it last longer and become more powerful than an air mass thunderstorm?

9. What are the basic characteristics and structure of tornadoes and where do they occur most?

10. What are the stages in the creation of a tornado and what happens in each?

11. How do we classify tornadoes?

12. How do tornadoes produce damage?

13. How and why does lightning occur?

14. How and why does thunder occur?

1. What is the function of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and ozone in the atmosphere?
2. What are the different states of matter and how do they differ in terms of energy?
3. How does temperature affect total em energy emitted and the average wavelength?
4. How and why does the change in the shape of earth's orbit affect our proximity to the sun and insolation?
5. How and why do sun angle and daylength vary by latitude?
6. How and why do sun angle and daylength vary by season?
7. What factors affect absorption and reflection (albedo) on the surface and why?
8. How does advection affect storage and movement of energy on the earth?
9. How does net radiation vary by day, by season and by latitude?
10. How and why do altitude and elevation affect temperature?
11. How and why does cloud cover affect temperature at night and during the day?
12. What is the overall difference in temperature between areas inland and those on the coast because of these four differences between land and water?
13. How and why does latitude affect temperature?
14. How and why does temperature affect confined and unconfined air pressure?
15. What is the pressure gradient force and why does it occur?
16. How do pressure gradient force, coriolis, and friction affect the direction that wind blows?
17. What are ridges and troughs, why do they occur and how are they related to the Westerlies?
18. What are specific humidity and maximum specific humidity?
19. How and why does evaporation and condensation affect specific humidity?
20. How and why does temperature affect maximum specific humidity?

1. Explain how convectional lifting occurs in warm, saturated air. Include an explanation of density, temperature, stability, latent heat, and adiabatic temperature changes.
2. Describe and explain the structure of a midlatitude cyclone during the open (mature) stage.
3. Describe and explain the structure of a midlatitude cyclone during the occluded stage.
4. What processes occur during the three stages of an air mass thunderstorm and what is the structure in each stage?

TROPICAL WEATHER

1. What are the dominant controls on tropical weather?
2. What factors resist formation of tropical storms and why?
3. What factors aid formation of tropical storms and why?
4. What are the differences between tropical disturbances, depressions, storms and hurricanes?
5. What are the characteristics of an easterly wave?
6. Where do hurricanes and tropical storms form and why?
7. How are hurricanes classified and why?
8. What conditions are necessary for the formation of a hurricane?
9. What is the structure of a hurricane?
10. How does energy flow through a hurricane?
11. What is storm surge, why does it occur and what are the effects?
12. What are the effects of hurricane winds and rainfall?
13. How and why do hurricanes dissipate?

WEATHER FORECASTING

1. What are the characteristics of the basic forecasting methods and what are their problems?
2. What are the characteristics if the 3 types of forecasts?
3. What are the characteristics if the 3 ways of assessing forecasts?
4. What are the basic problems with weather data?
5. What occurs during analysis, prediction and post-processing of data to produce weather forecasts?
6. How are medium and long-range forecasts produced?  

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